There's never a dull moment in Carl's interview with the one and only Gary Saunders. Gary had a long career as a general manager and exec for many Minor League Baseball teams as well as the University of Mississippi. But Gary is far from done. At 66, Gary is now a sound engineer for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and popular radio personality with the very cool handle of "HoDad". Plus an array of interesting other part-time jobs he loves while experience a very unique (un)retirement.

Gary and his two brothers grew up in Virginia. His father was a real estate developer and his mother was a stay-at-home mom. As a teen he worked as a laborer for his father on construction sites and quickly learned that focusing on his studies would be a better path. Even in college at Virginia Tech, he knew he wanted a career in sports and dove into sportscasting for various college teams.

After college, Gary applied for a position with the St. Louis Cardinals, only to be discouraged by the sheer number of applicants and the low wages. But a man walked up to him, gave him his card and offered him a job as a Sales & Marketing Director of a minor league team, for about $200 per week. He jumped at the chance and it really kick-started his successful career in baseball. "Many things in life wouldn't have happened without the support of my wife, Eileen. She's my biggest fan," he tells us.

Gary ended his career in December 2020 and he and his wife moved to Florida. "Honestly, my plan was to lay on the beach, go out to lunch, swim in the pool....but after a year as a beach bum I felt very disconnected from real life. I felt like I had no purpose." Gary approached the Pirates minor league team about some sort of part-time job. They offered him a position managing the sound effects and music at the games for the team. "Oh man, it was my dream job!" he says. "I couldn't wait to sign up fast enough!"

When the baseball gig ended in the fall, he didn't want to go back to being a beach bum and decided to focus on getting a winter job too. You'll have to listen to the podcast to get all the details on Gary's job at a fitness resort, writing the "Home Plate Cookbook", jumping at an opportunity to become a radio host, as "HoDad" on the Longboat Luau show, and even a butler for a St. Regis hotel. "I've found it interesting and rewarding and I've met some really great people. All these different jobs and activities come with different tribes of people. They become like a second family. It has really enriched my life!"

Gary's (un)retirement observations:

• "I think I'm the poster child for staying busy in retirement. Target jobs or activities or volunteering that puts a smile on your face and make you feel better about your role in life."

• "I strongly urge people not to think about retirement as sitting on the beach all day. Because you will get tired of that and I know a lot of people think that sounds crazy, that "No way, I'll never get tired of that." But you will. You'll feel like you're no longer part of the real world. You're not engaged and you're not meeting people and you don't have a purpose for getting up and getting dressed every day."

• "It's important to find a thing or multiple things that make you happy and convert that in some way to a part-time job in retirement."​​​​​​​

• More about Gary Saunders​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• Feature about Gary Saunders

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Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog

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Tags:    blog   unretirement   radio   baseball   radio personality   part-time job   radio host  

My opening question for every episode of I Used to be Somebody is an "ice breaker" question for the guest. Ice breaker questions are a great lead-in, whenever you meet someone new. It's often a question I ask that's a little off beat and it often reveals a lot about that person. And the answer will give you a bird's eye view of who that person is, as well as their outlook on life.

I've asked this question a lot to people over the years, people who have had very successful careers. For most part, they have had some truly crappy jobs in the beginning of their work lives. But it seems everyone I've talked with has learned something from those experiences. (Like what not to do!)

When guests start talking about their first jobs or their worst job, they become very animated and you also learn what kind of storyteller they are. That time brings them back, and they tell their story, which helps make the interview for my show better. For the audience, the last thing you want to listen to is stock answers and corporate speak. (I know I don't!) Right from the get go, the guests become more personable and more real--which is the goal. 

So there is some thought in my craziness.

Sure enough, after reading the podcast results so far, it ends up that the most commented part of the podcast interviews from listeners is often the "ice breaker" questions. So I thought, "Why not put together an episode of just my ice breaker questions (and always interesting answers)?" This bonus episode is really entertaining and will give you some instant insight as to where this guest came from and who they are. Enjoy!

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• Sponsored by The Monkey Creative: themonkeycreative.com

Carl Landau is the Creative Genius here at Pickleball Media. He is the former Grand Poobah at Niche Media. 

Tags:    blog   worst jobs   unretirement   working   job   interview   bonus episode  

This week’s guest is Caroline Ceniza-Levine. Caroline is a dynamo in every sense. She has been a career coach for Amazon, Condé Nast, Goldman Sachs, Google, Tesla and other start-ups through global economies. Her specialty is career change, and she is the author of “Jump Ship: 10 Steps to Starting a New Career."

But HR is just a fraction of the many things she does well. She’s been a guest expert on CNN, NMC, CBS, FOX and other outlets; she’s also been a Senior Contributor to Forbes and a former career columnist in Money, CNBC and Portfolio. Did we mention she is also a Director for non-profits, an adjunct professor and a very funny stand-up comedian?

Although definitely not your average career path, Caroline says she learned the pace and variety from her hard-working single mother. She says that growing up in Lower East Manhattan, her mother always had several side gigs. Caroline went to Barnard College and studied at Julliard as a classical pianist. It was the first time she decided to pivot to something new. “That was a big growth step for me,” she says. “Quitting was a gift to myself.”

So Caroline followed her many other interests instead. She was working with large companies and saw very successful, talented, hard-working people who were still not 100% satisfied with their jobs. That’s when she decided to trust her instincts. Her secret? “You have to be prepared to pivot constantly. So I embraced that.”

Caroline urges people to find their dream jobs, instead of a haphazard approach to finding that next opportunity. The same could be said of (un)retirement—make a plan:

• Look for growth opportunities

• Identify your resources

• Make the changes you desire

• Re-brand yourself

• Build a new community

• Have confidence

During the podcast, Carl tells Caroline how much he admires how fearless she is. Caroline replied, “I’m actually fearful. But you just need to push yourself through it!” Caroline and her husband now split their time between NYC, Jacksonville FL, and Costa Rica. And you guessed it, still following her passions!

More insights on (un)retirement from Caroline:

•     "Networking—Go do it! Figure out the methods of networking that work best for you."

•     "It’s so much easier now to make money at things you are interested in. What a great time to have a body of expertise and experience and (you can) carve something new out of that."

•     "Work is play! I now pick my projects based on whether they’re going to be fun and I’m going to enjoy working on them."

• For more about Caroline Ceniza-Levine: https://focusisoverrated.com/

• This Week's Sponsor is The Monkey Creative: https://themonkeycreative.com/

Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.

Tags:    blog   interview   Caroline Ceniza Levine   pivot   comedy   career   dream job  

I used to jokingly refer to myself as Mr. High Tech, High Touch. (There was a trending book in the '90's called High Tech, High Touch. Those who know me know how profoundly funny it is to think of me as a computer whiz.  

In 1982 (after being fired by Don Pazour at Miller Freeman Publications) I was the Advertising Director at one of the first computer magazines called Dr. Dobb's “Journal of Computer Calisthenics and Orthodontia: Running Light Without Overbyte”. It was written for people that didn't buy computers--- they made them. 

I had no idea what any of the editorial content meant. But I knew how to pick up a phone and sell advertising for a magazine. I went on to start my own magazines for computer programmers with a dirty little secret — I never once during those days ever even used a computer.

Luckily for most of my career I always had an assistant that did all the more complicated computer stuff and I focused on selling. This reliance may not have been sound thinking, as I left myself a bit behind on the tech curve.

So up to current day —I have no assistant. Any tech issues come up and I've got to figure it out. And you know? I do. (You really can "Google anything"!) I've also gained a certain sense of satisfaction in figuring it all out on my own. Most importantly, I am not ashamed to ask for help when I need it. But I try to do it on my own first.

What I have learned is this simple, real world truth:  If you want to stay relevant, you need to keep up with technology. If I can embrace it, you can too!

Tags:    the carl diary   google   retirement   jobs   computer hacks